Military Wokeness Makes It ‘Difficult’ for Young People ‘to Serve under This President’: Congressman

Patriotic young people considering military service would find it “very difficult” to serve under a president as rabidly left-wing as Joe Biden, a Republican member of Congress said on Tuesday.

A Navy video instructing sailors how to use people’s preferred pronouns would repel anyone who does not wish to end up “indoctrinated in their agenda [and] forced to take a vaccine,” Rep. Greg Steube (R-Fla.) told “Washington Watch with Tony Perkins.” For those people, “It would be very difficult to raise your right hand and swear an oath … to serve under this president, because he’s more concerned about progressive, leftist policies than serving our country and protecting the nation’s borders.” Steube also cited Biden’s chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, which observers frequently compared to the fall of Saigon.

A controversial, four-minute-long video, released during Pride Month, drew instant criticism for its melding of extreme transgender ideology and childlike production values. “Hi, my name is Jony, and I use he/him pronouns!” begins a male named Jony Rozon. He and Conchy Vasquez coach enlisted personnel to always “include our pronouns in our emails” and “introduce ourselves using our pronouns.” If someone is “going through the process of discovery” and does not wish to reveal his or her preferred pronouns, “just continue to use gender-neutral language,” they instruct.

“How do we go about creating a safe space for everybody?” asked Vasquez in the video, created for members of the U.S. military.

The taxpayer-funded production also criticizes people who believe it is impossible to change one’s sex and believe forcing them to do so is “infringing on my rights.” Abandoning the biblical view of gender is “mostly and ultimately about respect,” says Vasquez — although she betrays no respect for the opposing viewpoint. 

Emphasizing social policy undermines America’s defenses at a critical geostrategic moment, Rep. Pat Fallon (R-Texas) said. “China just launched their latest aircraft carrier, and Iran is on the precipice of getting a nuclear weapon. And we’re worried about pronouns?” he asked on Tuesday’s episode. “It’s just farcical.” China’s Type 003 carrier — named the “Fujian,” after the province closest to Taiwan — will eventually use superior technology to other rivals in the South China Sea, experts say. Iran has announced plans to upgrade an uranium enrichment facility, sending Israel into a frenzied series of covert measures designed to degrade Teheran’s nuclear program. And anti-American Marxist leader Daniel Ortega invited Russia’s army to conduct training exercises in Nicaragua.

“This is political; it’s not military. It does nothing for military readiness whatsoever,” said Fallon, a member of House Armed Services Committee. “This is a non-issue, and it’s just catering to the far-Left.”

The military has struggled to meet recruitment goals during the Biden administration, despite reducing enlistment targets during the COVID-19 pandemic. To correct this deficit, the military should be “focusing on the service and security of the American people” and preserving “the sanctity of our borders” — and “not on what pronouns to use,” said Steube. “That is why we are losing militarily on the world stage to people like China.”

“It is so dangerous,” Perkins shook his head. “Misgendering someone may not be the end of the world, but if we continue this foolishness, it could be the end of the United States as we know it.”